AFTCKCTCKATD - Chapter 82
Chapter 82
Feng Yimo Was Angry.
---
The darkness magnified his senses, sharpening every sense until Ji Yanqing could do nothing but gasp for air before Feng Yimo overwhelmed his entire being.
Feng Yimo’s kiss struck him, scalding and feverish.
Their hot breath mingled between their lips and noses, driving the kiss deeper. Driven by instinct, Feng Yimo’s hands began to move.
This time, Ji Yanqing did not stop him.
Feeling Feng Yimo’s movements, Ji Yanqing’s body, already sinking into the mattress, trembled. His hands instinctively found purchase on Feng Yimo’s waist, where his muscles were pulled taut, like a beast poised to strike.
Feng Yimo nuzzled his nose against Ji Yanqing’s, fawning carefully like an animal cautiously seeking further intimacy.
Ji Yanqing’s breath hitched. He tilted his head back slightly, pressing a light kiss to Feng Yimo’s lips. Then, gripping the hand Feng Yimo had braced beside his shoulder, he guided him toward a deeper abyss…
Outside, the wind and snow howled through the gaps between the buildings like a roaring beast. In the silence of the room, Ji Yanqing’s heart hammered in rhythm with the storm. That soul-deep entanglement drove him to the brink of madness, making him wish he could remain immersed in it forever.
It wasn’t until the wind and snow ceased and the horizon was stained the first rays of daybreak that Ji Yanqing finally drifted into a deep sleep.
*
Many hours later, he was sound asleep when a series of urgent knocks startled him awake.
In a daze, Ji Yanqing turned over, intending to get up, but the soreness in his body instantly brought him back to his senses.
He opened his sleep-heavy eyes. Feeling the soft friction of the quilt against his skin, he instinctively looked to his side.
The bed was empty.
Ji Yanqing froze for a second before realizing the sky outside was already bright. Sunlight was piercing through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating the room.
He sat up in a hurry.
Since the apocalypse began, unless he was utterly exhausted from fleeing for his life, he had never slept this late.
Bang, bang, bang.
The knocking sounded again, reminding Ji Yanqing it wasn’t a hallucination.
“Ji Yanqing?” Tong Yue’s voice followed, muffled by the door.
Ji Yanqing grabbed the clothes beside him and pulled them on, quickly heading for the door.
“What is it?” He opened the door and looked at Tong Yue standing in the hallway.
“Are you feeling unwell?” Tong Yue heard the raspy huskiness in Ji Yanqing’s voice. “We’ve already settled the contract. If you’re not feeling well, maybe you should rest today?”
They had spent the entire afternoon yesterday discussing the terms. Early this morning, they had found a printer, rigged up a power source, and printed copies of the final agreed-upon terms.
“I’m fine.” Ji Yanqing took the contract from Tong Yue and scanned it.
The contract wasn’t long; it contained fewer than ten clauses in total, each only a single line of text.
They were not on equal footing with ‘Death,’ so excessive rules and regulations would only be a burden. Their only requirement right now was that the other side refrain from attacking them.
“I’ll be there in a moment,” Ji Yanqing said.
Closing the door again, Ji Yanqing placed the contract down and looked back at the room. It felt empty.
Sunlight spilled across the floor, reflecting faint distinct spots of light on the ceiling. The atmosphere was quiet and peaceful.
Ji Yanqing grabbed his things and went downstairs.
Just as he reached the ground floor, he saw Feng Yimo coming through the community gates, carrying a large bucket of hot water his way.
The county town had no electricity, but there was water nearby. Therefore, if one wanted a hot bath, they had to go to the canteen to boil the water themselves.
Feng Yimo was a Corpse King. For him, the simple human task of lighting a fire to boil water was more complex and arduous than hacking a fellow Corpse King to death.I’ve been playing with fire lately, so I can relate to Feng Yimo ngl.
Feng Yimo’s face and body were smeared with soot and ash; he looked as if he had just crawled out of a stove.
Behind him, Ji An and Ji Le were tagging along like eager puppies. They had also managed to get themselves filthy—evidently, they had ‘helped.’
Ji Yanqing leaned against the wall, quietly watching Feng Yimo approach.
As he drew near, their eyes met.
Feng Yimo’s eyes, naturally deeper than a normal human’s, were a pitch-black that seemed ready to swallow a person whole. Ji Yanqing’s heartbeat accelerated for a split second.
He went back upstairs to wash, three tails in tow. By the time Ji Yanqing went to find Tong Yue and the others, it was already noon.
They were living quite the coordinated ‘community’ life now. At mealtimes, designated personnel distributed food, though their main sustenance still consisted of scavenged snacks, dry rations, rice, and flour. They had saved the mutated plants to use as seedlings.
Because of the large number of people, the canteen was set up on the ground floor of a row building where the load-bearing walls had been reinforced, though the outer walls remained unfinished. It was spacious and offered shelter from the wind and rain.
Tables and chairs filled the space. When Ji Yanqing entered, nearly every seat was occupied.
Tong Yue and several other captains were eating.
Ji Yanqing collected his lunch and sat down beside them. After a brief discussion, they decided to head to the mountain range immediately after eating.
Before leaving, Ji Yanqing brought along a box of red inkpad paste.
The midday sun was intense. The snow on the ground had long since melted, replaced by rising heat that blurred their vision.
When Ji Yanqing and the captains arrived at the mountain range, the Corpse Kings in the forest were dozing off. The extreme weather wasn’t completely ineffective against them.
Compared to before, the number of Corpse Kings in the mountains had increased significantly. Looking from a distance, they were everywhere, even under the trees—definitely more than five hundred.
Seeing the humans arrive, many of the Corpse Kings who were still awake looked over.
Meeting those pairs of eyes, Tong Yue, Huang Rongyue, and the other captains looked grim, despite their mental preparation.
“Where are Shang Chan and the others?” Ji Yanqing showed no fear, walking directly into the woods.
A beast-form Corpse King nearby looked at Ji Yanqing, then at Feng Yimo. It stood up, stretched its back legs high in the air with its butt in the sky, then stretched its front legs forward, before finally trotting off to find someone.
Seeing its posture, Ji Yanqing felt a momentary trance, as if he were looking at a giant cat.
Ji Yanqing glanced at the other sleeping beast-form Corpse Kings in the forest. Perhaps it was a shift in his mindset, but looking at them now—curled up in balls or sprawled out long and flat—he felt more than ever that Corpse Kings were just oversized animals.
Shang Chan and the Elder arrived quickly.
The Elder wore a smile, but Shang Chan had a face full of rumbling thunder.
Corpse Kings possessed physical capabilities far exceeding humans, and this applied to intelligence-type Corpse Kings as well. Shang Chan admitted that Ji Yanqing could fight, and he could admit that he had lost yesterday, but that didn’t stop him from disliking Ji Yanqing.
Ji Yanqing handed the contract he brought directly to the Elder. “This is the agreement we discussed yesterday.”
The Elder took it and looked it over.
Shang Chan took a copy but didn’t even glance at it, just holding it in his hand.
Ji Yanqing wasn’t surprised. Corpse Kings were a bunch of illiterates.
Ji Yanqing took his own copy and read the content aloud roughly. “All Corpse Kings within ‘Death’s’ faction shall not harm the humans of Sunward. All Corpse Kings within ‘Death’s’ faction shall not enter the Sunward settlement at will. All Corpse Kings within ‘Death’s’ faction shall not arbitrarily destroy or trample the vegetable fields outside the Sunward settlement...”
In the entire contract, they really only had one requirement for Death: Do not attack us.
That single request was enough.
“Hmph.” Shang Chan let out a cold snort.
“In exchange, Sunward can help you establish archives and conduct a census of all your current Corpse Kings.” Ji Yanqing took a formatted tablet computer from Huang Rongyue.
He opened the camera, pointed it at the bewildered Elder, pressed the shutter, and then handed the tablet to him. “Like this. We can help you photograph all the Corpse Kings and record their physical characteristics and rankings. That way, you can keep tabs on your members and check on them when needed.”
The Elder, looking confused, took the tablet. When he saw his own face on the screen, his eyebrows rose slightly, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.
Shang Chan’s face was dark, yet his eyes couldn’t help but drift toward the tablet.
All Corpse Kings, even those with adult appearances and mature minds, had fundamentally only been ‘awakened’ for less than a year. They knew almost nothing of these human tricks.
“This is indeed a good item.” The Elder turned the tablet over and over in his hands. If they could catalog all the Corpse Kings, it would certainly make management easier.
“How many Corpse Kings does Death’s faction have now?” Tong Yue asked.
“Many,” the Elder said.
“A thousand?”
“The west and the north are full of them.”
Tong Yue fell silent.
“We can help you with the logistics, but you have to call them over,” Ji Yanqing said, his expression subtle.
Corpse Kings were illiterate, and that included Feng Yimo.
“Good.” The Elder was in high spirits.
As his voice fell, he looked at the tablet in his hand again, only to find the screen had gone black and he could no longer see himself. He looked surprised.
Ji Yanqing reached out and pressed the unlock button on the side. The screen lit up, and the Elder’s face appeared once more.
“I’ll give this to you as a gift,” Ji Yanqing said.
The Elder was in a good mood.
Taking the opportunity, Ji Yanqing brought over the contract. “So, is it settled then?”
As he spoke, Ji Yanqing opened the inkpad and pressed his fingerprint onto the two sheets of paper.
The Death faction currently had another prominent figure besides Shang Chan and the Elder—a beast-form Corpse King. After Shang Chan and the Elder pressed their prints, Shang Chan took the paper to find the beast. When he returned a few minutes later, the entire sheet of paper had turned red.
One of that thing’s fingers was larger than the paper itself.
Seeing the two sheets of paper that had turned completely red, Ji Yanqing struggled to suppress the twitching of his mouth. He left one copy for Shang Chan’s group and took only one back.
Shang Chan lacked interest in the contract, so the Elder kept it.
The Elder didn’t have much interest in the contract either; he was far more curious about the tablet in his hand.
“Next, we are going to the Devil’s City. We need to scavenge for supplies in the city there,” Ji Yanqing said, looking at the two of them.
He didn’t know the specific situation in the Devil’s City, but it was possible there were Corpse Kings from Death there. If he didn’t give advance notice, he feared his people might be accidentally harmed.
“The Devil’s City?” The Elder looked up from his photo.
“Yes.”
“We will go over there as well,” the Elder said, glancing at Feng Yimo as he spoke.
Ji Yanqing was surprised. “What are you going there for?”
“After the Corpse Kings of the Devil’s City died, the Corpse Kings of Heavenly Flame began moving towards it, intending to occupy it,” Shang Chan said.
“Heavenly Flame?” It was the first time Ji Yanqing had heard this name.
The Elder explained, “Death controls the west and the north. The south is the Devil’s City’s territory, and the east is the territory of a faction called Heavenly Flame.”
He added, “Unlike the Devil’s City, the leader of Heavenly Flame is an intelligence-type Corpse King. However, we don’t know the specific details. He is very mysterious. The Corpse Kings outside have never seen him, and even the Corpse Kings within his own faction can’t say clearly what he looks like.”
---
“He’s nothing but a despicable, shameless coward who relies on sneak attacks,” Shang Chan scoffed. Having fallen victim to such tactics before, he vowed that if he ever crossed paths with those guys again, he’d make them regret they were ever born.
The elder glanced at Feng Yimo. Since the conversation began, Feng Yimo had been entirely absent-minded, showing zero interest in the Devil’s City or the Heavenly Flame faction.
“We intend to take Devil’s City,” the elder stated. “Once we do, Death will control the southern territories.”
The Devil’s City had been razed by Feng Yimo, so naturally, it belonged to Death’s faction.
Feng Yimo remained unresponsive.
The elder continued, “The Lord of the Devil’s City is a Strength-type Corpse King. It’s said to be covered in white fur, with a distinctive tuft of pink hair inside its ears. Another Corpse King spotted it nearby recently.”
Ji Yanqing and his team, who had been frowning in contemplation over the Heavenly Flame threat, suddenly froze. In the next second, they all turned to look at Feng Yimo.
Covered in white fur with pink ear tufts? Wasn’t that the giant white rat Feng Yimo had dragged back earlier?
Had Feng Yimo actually captured the Lord of the Devil’s City?
The corners of their mouths twitched. So, Feng Yimo had been walking the Lord of the Devil’s City around their county town like a dog every day, even forcing it to dig a river and a lake?
Feeling their gaze, Feng Yimo looked the picture of unaware innocence.
Ji Yanqing remained silent, but the elder pressed on. “If the Lord of the Devil’s City is still alive, it will likely ally with the Heavenly Flame’s Corpse King to deal with us.”
The elder wasn’t saying this to warn Ji Yanqing’s group; he was speaking entirely for Feng Yimo’s benefit.
Death had gathered a significant number of Corpse Kings, but since Heavenly Flame could occupy the entire East, they likely had more than just a hundred or two. If they joined forces with the Devil’s City Lord, a fierce battle was guaranteed.
If Feng Yimo returned to lead them, victory would be assured—it was also a chance to demonstrate their strength to all Corpse Kings.
Feng Yimo remained unmoved.
The elder and Shang Chan exchanged a glance, both feeling a headache coming on.
Ji Yanqing saw right through their scheme, but he didn’t intervene. Seeing Feng Yimo’s lack of interest, he led the way back toward the county town.
Many people in the town knew they had gone to find the Corpse Kings and were waiting at the gates. Seeing them return safely, necks craned in anticipation.
Ji Yanqing took out the crumpled, red-stained paper he had signed earlier and showed it to everyone, announcing that the treaty was officially in place.
The news spread like wildfire, sending the entire town into a frenzy.
Too much had happened recently: first the discovery of Corpse Kings in their town, then the arrival of Death’s Faction, and now a peace treaty. The residents were a bit dazed. Yet, even through the shock, they understood what that piece of paper represented. Smiles broke out on every face.
Ji Yanqing stood in the crowd for a moment, soaking in the joy, before quickly grabbing someone nearby to notify all squad leaders to gather at the cafeteria.
Since the battle at the Devil’s City, everyone had returned to the county town; no one was currently outside.
Ten minutes later, Tong Yue and the other seven battalion commanders, along with forty squad leaders, gathered in the cafeteria below Ji Yanqing’s apartment.
Ji Yanqing showed the treaty to the group—who were already in the know—then quickly shifted the topic to the Devil’s City.
After relaying the intelligence about Heavenly Flame and the Devil’s City obtained from Shang Chan, Ji Yanqing rapidly organized the next phase.
The forty squads were divided into eight battalions of five. Aside from one battalion assigned to continue gathering mutant plants for special bullets, the other seven were to immediately head to the Devil’s City in the rear to retrieve all supplies.
The Devil’s City was directly behind them, only a day’s drive from the nearest city. If the Heavenly Flame’s Corpse Kings swarmed in, the fallout would be inevitable.
If Death’s Faction and Heavenly Flame clashed there, the situation would be dire. If the battlefield spread towards Sunward, Death’s Faction wouldn’t go out of their way to save humans. They had to rely on themselves.
Grasping the gravity of the situation, the squad leaders dispersed to brief their teams and prepare.
They moved fast. By early the next morning, hundreds of vehicles were heading toward the Devil’s City.
Almost simultaneously, the Corpse Kings nestled in the mountains began to move. Nearly four hundred of them surged toward the Devil’s City. Most were in their beast forms, massive bodies resembling prehistoric monsters.
The long line of human vehicles merged with the horde of monsters—a scene both eerie and strangely exhilarating.
After watching the convoy disappear from the town gate, Ji Yanqing went to the cafeteria to brief the remaining residents over breakfast.
While the away teams scavenged, the seven thousand people left behind had their own mission. They had to clear the surrounding land and begin farming immediately.
Within a month, they had to master the cultivation of these mutant plants. After that month, the survival of the entire town would depend on these crops.
Whether they could successfully transition and survive hung on the next thirty days.
Breakfast finished, the crowd consciously gathered in the open space outside the city.
Ji Yanqing had already marked out the plots. After a simple division of labor, thousands poured into the fields. They had scavenged farm tools from nearby rural households, but not enough for everyone; amidst the bustling crowd, many were wielding kitchen knives.
Seeing Ji Yanqing finish his briefing, Feng Yimo approached.
“Don’t just stand there, help out.” Not even Sunward’s Captain sat idle; Ji Yanqing had grabbed his axe and joined the fray from the get-go.
Feng Yimo paused, gazing silently at Ji Yanqing, who had jumped straight from management to manual labor.
Ji Yanqing was always busy…
The workforce processing the inedible mutant plants that occupied the planned fields was split into three groups. One felled the tall, sturdy vegetation; another cut the undergrowth; and the third dragged the debris to the mountain edge for burning.
Once the vegetation was cleared, the soil treatment was also divided into three stages: digging up the earth, sifting out the roots, and hauling the roots away to the fire.
It looked simple, but it was grueling work.
The fields were overgrown with mutated crops and unknown weeds—some small, others taller than a man, many armed with vicious thorns. Uncertainty about toxicity meant they had to be cautious, slowing the process significantly.
Ji Yanqing led the vanguard with his axe, chopping at the thickest stalks. He had decent endurance, but after a bout of intense labor, his injured foot began to throb and his hands went numb. Looking back, he realized he had cleared less than a hundred meters.
The others were even slower.
Standing amidst the verdant chaos, Ji Yanqing surveyed the sprawling fields. At this rate, just clearing the land would take half a month.
He looked at Feng Yimo, then at Ji An and Ji Le, who were enthusiastically helping.
“Ji An, Ji Le.”
The two red-faced youngsters immediately dropped the weeds they had just pulled and looked up at Ji Yanqing.
“Go get those two,” Ji Yanqing said.
Ji An and Ji Le exchanged a glance, instantly understanding. They turned and sprinted back toward the town.
On the edge of town, the massive Black Beast lay with its chin on its front paws, lazily watching the humans cut grass and dig dirt.
The more it observed them, the stranger humans seemed. They were incredibly weak—a single ordinary zombie could wipe them out—yet in a way, they were tenacious survivors.
“Roar...” The Pangolin Corpse King looked at its friend. Let’s run!
The Black Beast paused and looked over.
“Roar.” He’s too busy to catch us right now.
The big rat successfully ran away earlier, it reasoned.
The Black Beast instinctively looked toward Feng Yimo. It had the distinct feeling that even if it ran, it would be dragged back.
“Roar?” Do you like it here?
The Black Beast was stunned. It looked at the Pangolin. Who said it liked it here? It wanted to flee to the ends of the earth! This place was hell, a nightmare—especially Feng Yimo, the living embodiment of terror.
“Roar.” The Badger lay down beside the Black Beast. But you clearly look happy.
“Awoo...” The Black Beast was about to retort when Ji An and Ji Le burst out from behind the mutant plants.
“Found you!”
“Grab them!”
On their short legs, Ji An and Ji Le pounced on the Black Beast and the Pangolin. Before the two beasts could react, the children hugged them and began dragging them toward Ji Yanqing.
Minutes later, the two captives were hauled before Ji Yanqing.
Ji Yanqing leaned on his axe to support his injured foot. He swept his gaze over them and pointed into the distance. “You two, plow that area. Don’t dig too deep, just clear the surface vegetation.”
The Black Beast felt a vein pop.
What did Ji Yanqing take them for? They were Corpse Kings!
Ji Yanqing couldn’t understand the growls, but he read the look in its eyes. He gestured to the busy crowd behind the Black Beast. “Everyone is working. Doesn’t it make you blush to just sit there watching?”
The Black Beast’s mouth twitched. No.
“Or would you prefer I ask Feng Yimo to have a chat with you?” Ji Yanqing smiled pleasantly.
The Black Beast bared its teeth, but after a glance at Feng Yimo, it resigned itself to fate, shaking off Ji An’s embrace to head toward the designated area.
The Pangolin followed, glancing between Ji Yanqing and the oblivious Feng Yimo, more confused than ever. The Black Beast is definitely happy here, isn’t it?
---
Upon receiving Ji Yanqing’s designated coordinates, the two creatures lumbered to their positions. Under the nervous gaze of the humans, they resigned themselves to their fate, expanding their bodies to titanic proportions before digging into the earth to uproot the mutated vegetation.
Their bodies were massive; a single swipe of their claws accomplished what would have taken Ji Yanqing’s team half a day to clear. With their inclusion, productivity skyrocketed.
Ji Yanqing watched with profound satisfaction as vast swathes of earth were laid bare, revealing the soil beneath. His contentment was interrupted by a shout from the distance.
“Ji Yanqing!”
He turned his head. It was Tong Yue.
Everyone was busy in the vegetable fields, no exceptions. Tong Yue was working in a separate plot some distance away.
“We have company,” Tong Yue called out, raising a hand to point toward the horizon.
Ji Yanqing followed his line of sight.
Out in the open clearing, unconfined by the mountain range, a small convoy of about twenty vehicles was rolling to a halt. They were a mix of buses and trucks—unfamiliar models, not from their county. They were likely a survivor group drawn in by the flyers Xia Shen Shu and the others had distributed early on.
Most of the survivor teams in the immediate vicinity had already gathered in their county town; it had been some time since they had seen new arrivals.
Ji Yanqing paused his work and took two steps toward them, intending to greet them. Suddenly, the convoy whipped around and sped off in the opposite direction, engines roaring.
It took a split second for the realization to hit. Ji Yanqing glanced at the two colossal black beasts laboring nearby.
Ah. They were terrified.
“Stop them!” Ji Yanqing shouted at the black beast.
Hearing the command, the creature looked up from its toil. Seeing the fleeing convoy, it lunged. The distance was nearly a kilometer, yet the beast crossed it like a bolt of black lightning, arriving in the blink of an eye to block their path.
Its arrival was so sudden that the lead vehicles couldn’t brake in time, crashing into one another in a cacophony of screeching metal. Gunshots immediately rang out.
At the sound of fire, numerous Corpse Kings piqued their curiosity, poking their heads out from the mountain ranges. Seeing more monsters, the survivors abandoned their vehicles in a panic, attempting to flee on foot.
Watching the chaotic scene unfold from afar, Ji Yanqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He quickly headed toward them, flanked by Tong Yue and a few others.
After they had closed some of the distance, someone on the opposing side seemed to recognize them. The huddled group stopped running and turned to look at Ji Yanqing’s approaching party.
Ten minutes later, they stood before the refugees.
Though the convoy consisted of only twenty vehicles, the crowd was dense—at least five hundred souls. More than half of them carried weapons, but they clearly had been on the run for a long time. They looked haggard; faces sallow, lips cracked, expressions twisted in exhaustion and pain. Almost everyone bore injuries.
The sight struck a chord of nostalgia in Ji Yanqing.
Though supplies were still tight in the county, they at least had enough water, could sleep peacefully at night, and didn’t have to run for their lives every day. Compared to this group, his people looked positively vibrant.
“It’s you,” Tong Yue said, surprised.
“You know them?” Ji Yanqing asked.
“They’re a survivor team from the north,” Tong Yue said, scanning the crowd. “Where is your captain?”
The group, who had been scared out of their wits by the black beast and bailed from their cars, looked at Ji Yanqing’s group in confusion. They had noticed the people working in front of the county town earlier, which only deepened their bewilderment—because the black beast was unmistakably a Corpse King.
“You are... from Team Equator?” A man in the crowd—likely the leader—squinted uncertainly at Tong Yue.
He recognized Tong Yue, a human, yet there he was, standing calmly next to a Corpse King.
“I am Tong Yue,” he confirmed with a nod.
Ji Yanqing glanced at the terrified crowd, then turned to the massive creature. “You can go back now.”
The black beast turned and trotted briskly back toward the vegetable patch.
As soon as the beast moved, the crowd, already pale with fright, fell into chaos again, their gun barrels tracking its movement in unison. The black beast ignored them completely, its steps light and eager as it returned to its digging duties.
Seeing the monster leave, the shell-shocked survivors turned their attention back to Ji Yanqing, struggling to process the situation.
“Why don’t we go into the city first?” Ji Yanqing suggested to the man who seemed to be in charge.
The man’s gaze was still fixed on the black beast. Back in the field, the creature immediately resumed its work, tearing up the earth with gusto. It looked for all the world like it was helping the humans. But how was that possible?
It wasn’t just the leader; the five hundred people behind him all wore expressions of sheer disbelief. They began to wonder if hunger had finally induced some sort of collective hallucination.
Seeing no reaction, Tong Yue asked, “What happened?”
“We were attacked. Five Corpse Kings, a small pack,” the leader explained, his voice hollow. “The Captain is dead. Our sanctuary is gone...”
The brevity of the statement painted a picture of absolute despair.
Even Ji Yanqing felt a heaviness in his chest hearing those few words. To establish a sanctuary meant they likely had seven or eight hundred people, perhaps more. Yet, once discovered by Corpse Kings, it had all turned to ash in an instant.
That would have been their fate, too, had they continued to fight alone.
“We were out on a supply run. When we returned, the sanctuary was destroyed. Zombies were everywhere...” The man paused. “We intended to go to Team Equator to find help, but no one was there. We saw the message left on the wall and followed it here. Then we saw… “
“It’s complicated,” Ji Yanqing paused, summarizing it in one sentence. “They are helping us clear the land.”
The refugees’ expressions became colorful. They could see the Corpse Kings were digging, yes, but the question remained: Why?
“Don’t worry, they’re obedient. They don’t bite.”
The crowd remained silent. No one believed him.
Frankly, Ji Yanqing barely believed himself.
Helpless, Ji Yanqing looked at Tong Yue.
“It’s a long story,” Tong Yue said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He didn’t know how to explain the alliance or the Corpse Kings. If he hadn’t experienced it himself, he wouldn’t believe it either.
“Let’s go inside first,” Ji Yanqing urged.
Tong Yue looked at the refugees. The group exchanged glances, hesitating to move their feet.
“Rest assured, we are all humans here,” Ji Yanqing said, feeling a sudden illusion that he was a con artist luring victims into a trap.
Hearing Ji Yanqing’s assurance and looking at Tong Yue, the opposing group relaxed their guard slightly. They quickly boarded their vehicles and drove toward the county town.
Giving the two black beasts a wide berth, the convoy parked in the lot outside the city.
After everyone disembarked, Ji Yanqing made his way through the crowd to ensure there were no Corpse Kings hiding among them, then nodded to Tong Yue.
Tong Yue led the group inside to arrange food and water, and to undertake the arduous task of explaining the situation with the Corpse Kings. They were no longer the loose alliance of before, but a single, massive survivor team. If these people wanted to join, they would have to dissolve their old structure.
When Ji Yanqing returned to the vegetable patch, Feng Yimo was staring at the distant mountain range, lost in thought.
“What is it?” Ji Yanqing asked, approaching him.
“I’m going to catch a few more,” Feng Yimo said, looking at him.
Ji Yanqing paused for a moment, realizing Feng Yimo meant the Corpse Kings. He had evidently grown bored of hacking at mutated plants. Chopping up Corpse Kings at least offered some resistance; these plants didn’t react at all.
Besides, if Ji Yanqing wasn’t so busy, wouldn’t he have more time to spend with him?
Hearing Feng Yimo’s words, the nearby black beast’s mouth twitched in a very human-like grimace. What did Feng Yimo think Corpse Kings were?
Ji Yanqing thought for a moment. “Five should be enough.”
The black beast’s mouth twitched again. When it looked up at the distant mountains, its eyes held a glimmer of sympathy.
Feng Yimo grabbed his sword and headed for the mountains.
Ji Yanqing turned back to the crowd working behind him and told them to stop and return to the county town. The group, currently working with feverish intensity, looked up in confusion but obediently began to walk back.
By the time almost everyone had reached the edge of the county town, several tall, bewildered figures emerged from the forest, with Feng Yimo trailing closely behind them.
Arriving at the clearing, the captured Corpse Kings looked confused until Feng Yimo pointed at the black beast digging in the dirt.
Aside from the one that had met Feng Yimo with Shang Chan, the other Corpse Kings in the mountain had come out of admiration for his reputation. They couldn’t understand why Feng Yimo hung around humans all day and forbade them from harming people. Now, seeing that Feng Yimo actually wanted them to farm, they were instantly furious.
Feng Yimo didn’t waste words; he drew his blade.
Seeing Feng Yimo draw his weapon and the Corpse Kings flare with rage, the refugees at the city gate tensed, fear spiking. The terror a Corpse King inspired wasn’t something a simple treaty could erase.
From the distance, Ji Yanqing saw this and panic surged—but not for the reason they expected. “Feng Yimo!” he roared.
He sprinted toward them, shouting a warning. “Don’t dirty the fields!”
Hearing Ji Yanqing’s full-throated command, the anxious crowd at the gate choked. That was the priority?
Feng Yimo glanced at Ji Yanqing, then at the soil beneath his feet, and silently sheathed his sword.
Anger flickered in the eyes of the Corpse Kings. They felt deceived. They never should have come here. Feng Yimo was being ordered around by a human; he wasn’t their Death God at all!
The next moment, before they could react, one of them was kicked squarely into the air.
Ji Yanqing watched from afar as Feng Yimo proceeded to beat the group of Corpse Kings into the dirt with his bare hands. His expression became complicated.
He had long known Feng Yimo was the Death God, and that the Death God was powerful, but this was the first time he had seen Feng Yimo genuinely engage in physical combat without a weapon.
If Ji Yanqing was impressed, the crowd behind him was absolutely floored as they felt the ground tremble and watched the one-sided beatdown in the distance.
The entire process lasted only a few minutes.
A few minutes later, a group of bruised and battered Corpse Kings obediently joined the terraforming crew. With their inclusion, the ground was cleared at a rapid pace.
Watching this scene from a distance, Ji Yanqing nodded with deep satisfaction.
Far away, deep in the mountains, the remaining Corpse Kings began to ponder a serious question: They believed Feng Yimo was Death now... but was it too late to run?
---
It took a little over an hour for the peculiar group to accomplish what would have taken a human crew half a month. The mutated vegetation was eradicated, stripped away along with the entire surface layer of topsoil.
Ji Yanqing stood alongside Feng Yimo, acting as supervisor. Only after confirming that every inch of the designated area had been properly cleaned up did Ji Yanqing signal Feng Yimo to release them.
Permission granted, the throng of Corpse Kings immediately scattered, fleeing toward the distant mountain range at full speed.
Feng Yimo paid them no mind. His gaze shifted to Ji Yanqing.
The work is done, so Ji Yanqing…
When the Corpse Kings first began tilling the earth, the survivors had watched in shock and wonder. But as time passed, the absurdity became routine, and numbness set in. They no longer loitered at the county gates to gawk; instead, they retreated into the safety of the city to catch their breath, sparing their hearts the strain of such a terrifying spectacle.
Having finished issuing his instructions, Ji Yanqing turned back, only to find himself locked in Feng Yimo’s dark, brooding gaze.
“What is it?” Ji Yanqing asked, puzzled. Feng Yimo looked for all the world like a large, abandoned hound.
Feng Yimo remained silent.
Having been retrieved once again, the survivors in the county town looked out at the vast swathes of land that had been stripped bald. Their eyes turned toward Ji Yanqing, and for a moment, no one knew quite what expression to wear.
Since Feng Yimo wasn’t speaking, Ji Yanqing forced his attention back to the immediate task.
He assigned duties. With the mutated vegetation gone, the next step was loosening the compacted soil. With their numbers, if they worked quickly, it could be finished in five or six days.
Perhaps spurred on by the terrifying efficiency of the Corpse Kings, everyone worked with exceptional vigor over the next few days. The soil preparation, originally estimated to take nearly a week, was completed in just four days.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, satisfied with the state of the fields, Ji Yanqing dragged Lu Qing out of the laboratory to instruct the group on how to plant the mutated crops.
Lu Qing didn’t have a profound understanding of the plants, but he knew more than anyone else.
Leaving the matter in Lu Qing’s hands, Ji Yanqing stood nearby, listening. In the distance, a convoy approached—their own fleet, over seventy vehicles strong.
Ji Yanqing left the crowd and headed for the parking lot.
The vehicles quickly reached the outskirts of the county town. The passengers disembarked rapidly. Having been away for only a few days, they were surprised to find the land already cleared for sowing, but no one had the energy to ask how it happened. As soon as they stepped off the trucks, many headed straight for Ji Yanqing.
“What happened?” Ji Yanqing frowned, eyeing the injuries covering Xia Shen Shu’s body.
“Heavenly Flame’s Corpse Kings were lying in wait there. We were attacked the moment we entered,” Xia Shen Shu reported grimly. “Death’s faction... they lost.”
“What?”
“The Corpse Kings from Heavenly Flame were targeting Death specifically. The ones that accompanied us... the dead are dead, the wounded are wounded. There aren’t many left standing,” Xia Shen Shu said.
Ji Yanqing was stunned. This was a development he hadn’t foreseen.
The detachment of Corpse Kings sent to the Devil’s City had been substantial—over four hundred strong. If even they had been defeated, just how many Corpse Kings did Heavenly Flame command?
Ji Yanqing looked toward the mountains. “Does Shang Chan know?”
“I don’t know,” Xia Shen Shu replied. “Once Death’s forces realized they were ambushed, they engaged Heavenly Flame immediately. They got separated from us at that point.”
Ji Yanqing hesitated for only a split second before hurrying toward the mountain range.
Their current peace relied entirely on the deterrence provided by ‘Death’. Feng Yimo’s faction could not afford to lose, and this battlefield absolutely could not be allowed to spill over to their doorstep.
Shang Chan already knew; he had accompanied the previous team into the Devil’s City. It was the Elder who remained in the mountains.
Upon seeing him, Ji Yanqing quickly relayed what had happened in the Devil’s City. The Elder’s face darkened instantly. He left quickly, presumably to make tactical arrangements.
Ji Yanqing didn’t linger in the mountains. He returned to the county town immediately.
By the time he arrived, Xia Shen Shu and the others were offloading the wounded from the trucks. A significant number of their people had been hurt.
Lu Qing had already abandoned his lecture on planting; he was now following the stretchers back into the town.
Seeing Ji Yanqing return, Xia Shen Shu approached.
“We ran into a group of people in the Devil’s City behind us,” Xia Shen Shu said, his expression flat.
“People?”
“Xia Chen.”
Ji Yanqing paused. That was unexpected.
Xia Shen Shu continued, “I don’t know where they got the intel, but they knew there were no Corpse Kings in the Devil’s City, so they were scavenging for supplies.”
Ji Yanqing remained silent.
“The moment they saw us, they turned and ran. I chased them for a stretch, but I couldn’t catch them.” Xia Shen Shu’s face was grim, practically dripping with murderous intent. This wasn’t the first time Xia Chen had slipped through his fingers, and he had long since sworn to kill the man.
“Does our other team in the Devil’s City know?” Ji Yanqing asked.
“I used the radio to notify nearby units to spread the word and tell everyone to stay alert.”
Ji Yanqing nodded. “Prioritize securing the supplies.”
“Mn.”
After conferring with Xia Shen Shu, Ji Yanqing went to check on Lu Qing, ensuring that all the injured were receiving care.
Out of a team of two hundred, only a hundred and seventy had returned. The majority were injured, many severely enough to require the potent rapid-healing medicine.
A bad premonition settled in Ji Yanqing’s chest. If Xia Shen Shu’s group had suffered this much, the other teams likely wouldn’t fare any better.
Knowing the danger lurking in the Devil’s City, Ji Yanqing still couldn’t issue an order for a full retreat. They had to retrieve those supplies.
Those resources were their lifeline for the coming months. Only by ensuring they had enough food could they hope to survive the next stage of this apocalypse.
Xia Shen Shu understood the situation perfectly. That was why, despite the heavy casualties, they had completed their mission, bringing back every scrap of material from the area they were assigned to.
The haul filled nearly fifty trucks—a rich bounty. Yet, there were no smiles on the faces of those helping to unload the cargo.
Ji Yanqing watched until everything was moved into the county town. After ordering Xia Shen Shu and the others to rest, he finally returned home.
Night had long since fallen, and snow blanketed the ground.
When Ji Yanqing walked through the door, Feng Yimo was just preparing to go out and look for him, concerned by his late return.
“Where are Ji An and Ji Le?” Ji Yanqing asked as he entered.
Feng Yimo pointed to the bedroom.
In the darkness, Ji Yanqing set down his axe and moved quickly to the doorway.
He peered inside; Ji An and Ji Le were already asleep.
The brothers had always been sensible. While they had learned how to be a little more playful and affectionate compared to the beginning, they were still incredibly disciplined children.
Ji Yanqing lay down on the bed. He tucked the quilt around the two little ones, then watched them quietly.
Seeing Ji An and Ji Le, the heavy oppression in his chest softened.
“What is wrong?” Feng Yimo asked.
Ji Yanqing shook his head.
Feng Yimo said nothing, simply watching him in return.
There was a strange magic in Feng Yimo’s eyes; they always managed to make Ji Yanqing talkative in his presence.
“Do you remember Xia Chen?” Ji Yanqing asked.
“I remember.”
Ji Yanqing felt a bit foolish for asking. Considering how that incident had exposed Feng Yimo’s identity, how could he forget?
Lying flat on the bed, Ji Yanqing looked up at Feng Yimo, who sat on the edge. “Xia Shen Shu ran into him.”
“Hmm.”
Ji Yanqing found himself at a loss for words.
He believed he had treated Xia Chen well, never shortchanging him, yet when Xia Chen had made his move, there had been no hesitation.
Xia Chen had once given him an explanation, but it wasn’t one that Ji Yanqing could accept.
Feng Yimo reached out, his fingers brushing against the furrow between Ji Yanqing’s brows.
Ji Yanqing caught Feng Yimo’s hand, pressing the palm directly against his forehead.
Feng Yimo’s body temperature was lower than a human’s, making his hand feel cool to the touch. Ji Yanqing needed that chill right now.
“Feng Yimo.”
“Mn?”
“Will you betray me one day too?”
The hand on Ji Yanqing’s face was abruptly withdrawn, leaving his face exposed to the darkness.
Ji Yanqing opened his eyes.
Feng Yimo’s black eyes were bone-chillingly cold in the darkness of the room. He stared straight at Ji Yanqing, a gaze like a freezing wind blowing through the soul, making even Ji Yanqing’s spirit shiver.
Feng Yimo was angry.
Ji Yanqing was stunned. This was the first time Feng Yimo had been so visibly angry in front of him—and angry at him.
“You...” Ji Yanqing reached out to grab Feng Yimo’s hand, but the moment his fingertips brushed against it, Feng Yimo pulled away.
Ji Yanqing was taken aback.
He sat up on the bed. “I was just asking casually...”
Before he could finish, he was violently slammed back onto the mattress.
Feng Yimo seized Ji Yanqing’s wrists, pinning them above his head and pressing them into the pillow.
He loomed over Ji Yanqing, looking down from above. His eyes grew colder, that icy depth laced with a predatory, feral ruthlessness. The sharpness in that gaze actually made Ji Yanqing feel a flicker of fear.
“I’m sorry...” Ji Yanqing said. He really had just said it without thinking.
“Sometimes, I want to bite you,” Feng Yimo’s voice was low and raspy.
Ji Yanqing’s eyelashes trembled. It wasn’t as if Feng Yimo hadn’t bitten him before.
“If I turn you into my subordinate, you would be … obedient,” Feng Yimo said.
Ji Yanqing’s breath hitched.
“That way, if I tell you to stay by my side, you would stay. If I tell you to look at me, you would look at me. That way, if I tell you to like me, I know you will like me forever.”
Ji Yanqing’s pupils contracted slightly.
He hadn’t realized it before, but in this moment, clarity struck him. Perhaps he had said something truly cruel.
Feng Yimo was a Corpse King. He wasn’t human, nor was he bound by human morality. He was ‘Death’. He could have used his own methods to keep Ji Yanqing from the very beginning.
But Feng Yimo had been cooperating with him. He had been carefully studying human ways, trying to understand him and love him in a manner humans accepted.
While Ji Yanqing had dismissed Feng Yimo as foolish or ignorant of human emotions, Feng Yimo had been constantly restraining himself, yielding at every turn.
Ji Yanqing gave his companionship to Ji An and Ji Le, his time to the survival team, the Paradise, and the Alliance. When he discovered Feng Yimo’s identity, he had fled. When he knew Feng Yimo loved him, he stayed silent, afraid of losing himself.
In this relationship, Feng Yimo had given far more than he had. Ji Yanqing had merely been waiting for Feng Yimo to come and love him.
And now, he had casually voiced a doubt that questioned everything, attempting to brush it off with a flippant “casual remark.”
Ji Yanqing moved his wrists, which were clamped in an iron grip.
Feng Yimo’s strength was immense; he was squeezing hard enough to nearly snap the bone.
Ji Yanqing moved again, this time using a bit of strength.
This time, Feng Yimo let go. He could never bear to actually hurt him.
Ji Yanqing lifted his upper body. He wrapped his arms around Feng Yimo’s neck, pulling the wronged beast into a tight embrace.
“I’m sorry.”
----
Comments
Post a Comment